Micah Richards says Manchester City will NOT win the treble this season

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards has said he does not expect his former side to win the treble this season, despite a growing sense that Pep Guardiola’s side are well positioned for a truly historic campaign.

City beat Arsenal at the Etihad last week to revisit their rivals at the top of the Premier League table, just days after beating Sheffield United to reach June’s FA Cup final.

Meanwhile, their sweeping defeat of Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League to set up a repeat of last year’s semi-final with Real Madrid has many preemptively anointed them winners of that particular competition.

Bookmakers have significantly reduced City’s chances of winning the treble in recent weeks, becoming only the second England side ever to achieve the feat.

However, Mail Sport columnist Richards appears on the YouTube channel Dirty guyssaid he did not expect City to reach the treble, but stopped revealing which league he thought they would fall short in.

Manchester City’s win over Arsenal at the Etihad saw bookmakers significantly reduce City’s chances of winning the treble

However, Richards said Real Madrid were to be feared in the Champions League and labeled it a 50/50 match

“I don’t think they’re going to do the treble,” he said. I’m worried about that game [vs Real Madrid].

‘I worry. I’m worried, man. I worry. I have to be honest – I’m worried about them, I wrote off Real Madrid last season.

“They know how to get it done at the right times. The only thing is now, the second leg is at the Etihad, not the Bernabeu. That could be the difference.’

The duel between City and Real Madrid is particularly intriguing after last season’s semi-final.

Leading 5-3 on aggregate with seconds ticking away and seemingly en route to a second successive Champions League final, City were hit by two Rodrygo goals within seconds of each other, leaving them utterly shocked.

Extra time came and Karim Benzema settled the tie with a penalty kick. It was the third time in the league that Real Madrid had appeared to rise from the dead in that season alone.

Regarding Real Madrid’s ability to never let the game die, a key aspect of their success over the past decade or so, Richards said they picked the ‘right times’, although he didn’t think Guardiola would have picked it this time. would allow again. .

When told that City “mistreated” the Spanish giants last season and deserved to go on, he hit back, arguing that Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, the two sides they had knocked out in the previous rounds, had done so too. did.

“Yes, but PSG too, Chelsea too – it was at the right times,” he said. “I don’t think so (Guardiola makes lightning strike twice).

He said last season’s painful defeat to Real Madrid should not happen again

City led 5–3 on aggregate heading into the final part of extra time before conceding twice within a minute

‘The double, the double [City will win],’ he said. ‘I don’t think the treble.’

Now that City have taken the lead in the title race, it looks like they are poised to win the Premier League – albeit the other two trophies seem much more like a lottery due to the nature of the competition.

Richards, who grew up as an Arsenal supporter but rose through the ranks at City to win the Premier League with them in 2011-12, said they struck at just the right time and described them as in the shape of their lives ‘.

“It’s hard to call you know,” he said when asked who would win England’s top flight. “But the thing is, Man City are in the shape of their lives – they have come to the end of the season with the best form at the right time.”